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Union County Freeholders Vote to Provide EMS Assistance to Fanwood

Partnership will supplement existing volunteer Rescue Squad at no extra cost to Fanwood budget and result in faster response.

Union County, NJ — In a shared service partnership with Fanwood, the Union County Freeholder Board last night voted to provide EMS service coverage to the borough, five days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday.  The service has started immediately.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Fanwood Rescue Squad will continue to provide coverage from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., Monday to Friday, and around-the-clock coverage on weekends, Saturday and Sunday. Also, the Fanwood Rescue squad can continue to provide service from Monday to Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. if it has the staff required for coverage.

“The County is pleased to be able to provide life-saving EMS assistance to Fanwood that will work with the borough’s outstanding volunteer Rescue Squad,” said Freeholder Chairman Alexander Mirabella, who is also a resident of Fanwood. “The public safety and well-being of our County’s residents is our highest priority.”

Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr thanked the County Freeholder Board for assisting Fanwood with EMS coverage.

“This is a win for our community, as the County EMS will work to supplement the existing efforts of those who dedicate their time and effort to volunteer for our Rescue Squad,” said Mayor Mahr. “We are proud of our Rescue Squad’s efforts, and pleased to be able to build on a service with the County that will provide life-saving assistance for our residents.”

The Union County EMS was started through the Freeholder Board in 2011 during a period of time of decline in EMS service in many communities.

Since then, the Union County EMS — which maintains its central countywide office in the public safety complex at Westfield, with a satellite office that is contracted to serve Roselle Park — has received more than 39,000 calls, many of them life-saving. Last year alone, the service received over 7,000 calls.

The 24-hour-a-day program has provided emergency medical care to many of Union County’s residents and visitors. In 2018, the County’s EMS was honored by Trinitas as the EMS Provider of the Year.

The County assumed Fanwood’s public safety dispatch system in 2010. The arrangement has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for Fanwood.  Under the agreement, the County dispatches all Fanwood emergency services including Police, Fire, and EMS. The County’s Dispatch system operates out of the Froehlich Public Safety Building in Westfield.

The County of Union provides a wide-range of shared services to its municipal partners. For more information on all its shared services, please call Deputy County Manager Amy Wagner at 908-527-4200, or email her at awagner@ucnj.org.

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For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

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